He Got It
by Queen Arabia
Summary: If Stoick didn't get there in time. Warning, character death.


**I will never forgive myself for writing this. Gah, the sadness... The FEELS!**

Hiccup peered around the burning wood. Had the Nightmare given up? No, it wouldn't have. But then why couldn't he see... He felt a hot breath on the back of his neck a split second before agonizing pain hit him. He screamed and writhed, falling to the ground as the blistering fire ate away at his small body. He saw his father drop to his knees beside him and he smiled weakly through the pain, whispering something just before his eyes closed for the last time and his voice died away forever.

Yaaaaaah!" Astrid cried, swinging her axe at a tree. Why was she so... Sad? She should be happy that the useless son of the chief was dead. He wouldn't cause trouble for the village ever again. But maybe that was the problem. She would never again see his lopsided grin, or hear his sarcastic jokes. He wouldn't ever fix her axe again, or stumble over his words around her, or try to act cool even though he really wasn't.

She let out a scream and did a double roll past a rock, coming out to see not a tree, like she'd expected, but the rotting corpse of a black dragon. It was wrapped in ropes. She gasped as she made her way around it. She knew what this was. A Night Fury. She turned and ran. She had to get Stoick.

She was out of breath when she made it to the Chief's house. She knocked on the door and started rambling to Stoick when he opened the door.

"I saw... Dragon... Black,_ Night Fury_! Dead... Bolas, killed... Off Raven Point..." She gasped out.

"Whoa, lass. Calm down. What happened?" Stoick said, letting her in.

She took a deep breath. "I was training... Off Raven Point and I found a dragon." Stoick's eyes widened.

"Where is it now? Did you kill it?" He asked, standing.

"No sir, it was already dead. I've never seen anything like it, it was all black, and it didn't have spikes or big teeth or anything... I think it was a Night Fury, sir." Astrid answered. Stoick stopped.

"A Night Fury? Nobody has ever seen one. How long... was this dragon dead, do you know?" He said softly.

"About three weeks I think, sir."

"Three weeks..." He sat down again and put his head in his hands as tears pricked his eyes. "Oh my son..." He looked up again. "I never told anyone what Hiccup's last words were... I thought he was mistaken. But now..."

"What did he say?" Astrid asked, curious.

"He said... 'I got it.' He was... Always trying to capture a Night Fury, that's why he built all those crazy inventions, to shoot one for him. And... He got it. My son killed a dragon." He shook his head slowly.

"Oh... Hiccup... Killed a Night Fury... With one of his inventions. Oh gods... Oh wow. I... I have to go." Astrid said, overwhelmed with emotions.

Feelings weren't her strong point, she thought as she left the Chief's house. She ran into the forest. The sight of the Night Fury's rotting body wouldn't leave her mind and she could still hear Hiccup's tortured screams.

She swung around suddenly and threw her axe at a tree. She found herself thinking of all the things she'd never experience again. She'd never see Hiccup trying to lift something far too heavy, or secretly watch him building his odd contraptions, or spot him staring at her out of the corner of her eye. She'd never again hear him making dumb excuses for being outside during a raid, or hear him laugh, or sing, or watch Snotlout trying to slip something into his soup...

She stopped suddenly. Had she ever heard him laugh? She couldn't remember. She'd certainly never seen him drunk, though he was always drinking mead. She faintly remembered he had a good voice though she hadn't heard him sing in a long time, not since his mother died.

What did she know about Hiccup? He was clumsy, and sarcastic, and nice, and she liked his smile... Wait, what? She liked his smile? Astrid sat down suddenly._ That_ was why she was so sad. She liked him. 'Like' didn't really seem like the right word though. She liked her axe. No, this was more than that... She... Loved him, then. And she'd never tell him, because he was gone forever. Astrid finally let the tears flow.


End file.
